The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-10-01
Notes from the Hermitage.

we were very much interested In the
announcement that I.ev. +. Ii. Wheeler
would preach five minutes sermon to
the children every Sunday morning. 1t
was a doctrine inculcated by our
Saviour and impressed with many illus
tratiOns. 1t has been a pet scheme
with us for many years, and we should
rejoice to see His example followed by
every minister in the land. The emf
nent success of Lycurgus in elevating
the pampered, effeminate Spartans TO
the most hardy, enduring and efficient
warriors of any age or country, is evil
dence of the feasibility and wisdom of
the undertaking. The stand made by
Leonidas and his goo Spartans against
hOrdeS Of XerXes never was equaled I'm
the annals Of history. In thirty years
these children will become the ruling
power of our country, and they should
be educated morally, Ieligiously, ment-
ally and physically for the responsible
duties which devolve upon them. They
should be taught to initiate the good,
the noble and the virtuous, and to shun
the selfish, deb&sing and pernicious in
fluences Of the designing and unprin-
cipled. 1t will require much tact to
carry out the scheme and interest the
children, but If properly done will soon
exert an influence over parents and
children that will be more powerful for
good than the effects of more scholarly
grown up'' sermon. Let the good
work go on.
~.
To-day (2lst) the sun "crossed the
line," and is setting at the North pole
while it is rising at the South. 1t must
he a sublime sight to sit on the pole
and view the sun passing around, sink
ing lower and lower each day until
finally lost below the horizon. and then
watch the twilight receding until dark
ness sets in and all is silence and gloom.
The man who attends to oiling up the
bearings at the North pole can then
trim his oil lantern and turn in for a
six months night, while his confeder-
crate at the other pole will be basking
in perpetual sunshine. These changes
of seasons afford a theme Of exceeding
interest to the contSmplative mind, and
can be made very profitable to any one
who will reflect CT their mysteries.
-.
Rev. and Mrs. A. J Drake, Of the
New England Congregational Church,
of lroquois, occupied the desk Of the
Congregational Church of this place on
Sunday.
~.
Mr.. and Mrs. Allen, of Eastern New
York, spent a day at the hermitage,
the guest Of DIR. j. ii. I.aGrange. Mr..
Allen has visited Dakota three or four
times during the last FIVE years, and
says that the farmers are In better
condition than those in Eastern New
York. Our great mistake is in paying
taxes and interest on too much unpro-
ductiye land; he would rather buy
land here at the ruling rates than take
it as q gift beyond the established line
Of railroads.
-.
Music hath power to sooth the saw
age breast" Yes; but unlike patent
medicines, the same tune does not
prove a sudorific emollient to every
breast. This individual savage Is not
emphatically soothed when the pro-
; fessor of the roller mill ''tooter" puts
on the knee swell' and blows blast
loud and long enough to awaken the
"slumbering past" or guide the lost
cause to city of refuge. When manu-
featuring melody for our special graft
ficatlon, please draw the dulciana stop
and remember the eioquence Of brevity
and you shall be rewarded by the graft
tude of the OLD HERMIT.
| -